Mass Effect: Necropolis
by Aerialight
Summary: Two Story arcs, one set during the Reaper War, one set after. The former follows Derelict Squad, an elite team of N7 marines, during their fight to protect earth from Reaper forces. The latter follows present day Lilith Shepard after the war, who is being hunted by those who blame her for the Reaper's attacks. Eventually Derelict Squad will meet Shepard.


**Earth, 2186 (2 years ago)**

"Sometimes, the best isn't good enough. Sometimes you bring a gun to a knife fight, and find the knife sticking out of your back before you pull the trigger. Perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself, let's start from the beginning. In the year 2183, when rumors of the Reaper's return first emerged, there was a forced period of reassurance. They didn't exist, they couldn't return. The story kept changing as the threat grew closer.

The Alliance didn't care much for the false reassurances. The Interplanetary Combatives Training program took off, recruiting more marines than ever before. Fueled by fear of the rumors, many soldiers quickly rose to the ranks of the N7. The N7 was the highest rank a marine could become through the program, and was only achievable through a grueling and limitless testing phase.

The problem with an N7 is that they are trained to be leaders on the field. Usually, one N7 is assigned to a group of lower ranking soldiers. These are the most important squads, and subsequent squads of lesser power are commanded by N6 soldiers, then N5, and so on. The Alliance knew this was an effective use of N7 marines, but not the best. They decided that one team should be made up entirely of N7's. They chose the top performing N7's and put them through even more dangerous team scenarios.

The first member of the team is Aegis, an N7 Paladin. His protective personality quickly suited his shield bearing suit. Before becoming an N7, he spent his time as a marine protecting his sister, a researcher on Mars. She was killed in a crossfire when Batarian pirates attacked the station, and since then Aegis has vowed to protect others. Unlike other Paladins, Aegis has much more control over his omni-shield, and can alter its properties such as size and density.

Second is Kisari, an N7 Fury. She is the last one left alive in her family, and memories of how they were killed creates a rage that propels her biotics to a dangerous level. They say that some biotics can start to lose their grip between reality and power, which I fear may be happening to her. Her methods can become sadistic and unusual, but she gets the job done. Someone on the brink of insanity can be a great asset, until they have to be put down.

The next two members should probably be mentioned together, since they are always together on the field. Epsilon and Zeta. Born brother and sister, the two have stayed with each other through everything, and both flew through the ICT ranks. Epsilon is an N7 Infiltrator, the best sniper in the Alliance, while Zeta is an N7 Demolisher, known for her skill with grenades and, well, lots of weapons. The two often synchronize their movements in battle, and show a strong mutual protection for one another. Epsilon took a bullet for his sister a few years back, which completely immobilized his right arm. It was since replaced with a new mechanical arm.

If a war needs to be won, we send in Rhino. Rhino is a heavily modified N7 Destroyer. He's bigger than most Destroyers, and has cosmetic changes to his armor including a massive spike protruding from his helmet, arm gauntlets with sharpened claws, and much heavier armor plating. Not much is known about Rhino because he doesn't talk, he only growls in low guttural noises. It's unknown if he can't talk, or if he chooses not to, but it's clear that he doesn't need to. What he lacks in personality, he makes up for with inhuman strength and resilience. During training to become an N7, the program had to be put on hold for weeks because he accidentally "broke" the entire facility.

The final member of the team is myself. My real name is Aaron Warrick, but like the rest of our squad, my name was substituted for a codename, Warcry. I'm an N7 Soldier, skilled at close quarters combat and tactical planning. When the Alliance put our squad together, I was asked to be the leader, and I laughed. We are N7, we don't need a leader. Or at least, that's what I thought. As I've come to find, our group is a delicate one, we all think we can go be lone wolves on the battlefield, with the exception of Epsilon and Zeta.

Reapers have just attacked earth. As I ride aboard the Phoenix, our personal starship, I hope these data pads that I write over the next few weeks are remembered if I am to be forgotten. Our superiors have faith that one soldier will bring together the races of our galaxy to fight the Reapers. Until then, Earth must be protected. We are the Derelict Squad. When others fail, we do not. Earth will not fall."

**Orbit of Neptune, 2188. (Present day)**

"Lily! Grab that grappler, we need to bring that shield driver inside." The voice came from a battered looking character standing aboard a large, boxy spacecraft. His armor and helmet were extremely damaged and dirty, but were recognizable as the outfit of the Eclipse, a mercenary group. The craft he was standing on was stabilized in space, completely surrounded by chunks of debris.

"Yeah, hold on Sabertooth." replied the figure referred to as Lily. She wore a dark blue armor with yellow lights, the old armor used by the Alliance, yet it too was badly damaged. She reached out and grabbed onto 4-pronged claw, pulling it toward a glowing object floating in space. After it was latched on, the object was pulled up into the underside of the ship.

"Anything else useful out there?" Sabertooth asked, his voice being transmitted though his helmet.

"Not a thing. Looks like someone got here before us." Another figure replied, flying from around a large chunk of metal. He was a Turian, clad in white armor.

"You think Scavs would leave behind a working Fortex shield driver, Vione?" Lily asked as the two figures drifted back toward the ship.

"They probably couldn't find a way to get it onboard, these things weigh about 10 tons. Easy to move in space, but once on a ships normal gravity it could put a hole through the floor." Vione replied.

The two figures entered the ships airlock. Lily removed her helmet, letting long, dirty white hair flow down her face. One stripe of her hair was colored blue, and her eyes seemed to glow a dim blue to match, giving them a striking contrast of beauty against her grease covered face. She glanced to the side as Vione removed his helmet, revealing black facial markings that surrounded his eyes, connected to a black stripe that began from his upper lip and continued to the back end of his center head crest.

"The driver is a good one, but we are far from a good quota today. I've got a course set for 90377 Sedna, word is a bunch of Scavs are heading that way. May be some good catches. We will hit the Ragnarok on the way back. Go get some rest you two." Sabertooth replied, and walked off.

"He's in a charming mood as always. Goodnight Lily." Vione replied.

"Goodnight Vione." The two headed off in separate directions. Lily entered a small room near the back of the ship and closed the door. It was her room, a humble one at that. Wires hung from the ceiling, the lights were dim and hardly working, and her bed was merely a collection of blankets in the corner of the room.

"Home sweet home." She grunted, and removed her armor, revealing a thin but well-built body. As she sat down on her bed, she reached for an orange holographic data pad, and began to speak softly.

"Log number 134. I realize now that I talk mostly about my adventures, if they could even be called that. I've never really talked much about the ship or our crew at all. I think now may be a good time to do just that.

Our ship is called Veil. In the old days, it was a garbage rig, tasked with cleaning up space. Sabertooth has been its captain since long before the war. During the war he outfitted it with weapons, turned it into some sort of war rig.

After the war, space was filled with the remains of destroyed craft. Many of the garbage rigs went back to their cleaning duties, but some, like the Veil, became scavenging ships. They search the debris of destroyed ships, looking for engines, drives, relays, and other useful parts. The collected parts are then sold to buyers on the Ragnarok. Oh yeah, the Ragnarok. The Citadel was destroyed as a result of the war, so they had to figure out an alternative to such an important structure. Ragnarok is a five-sided, pyramidal shaped structure that serves as a temporary base to the council races and cities. It's not nearly as large as the citadel, but its purpose will be short-lived. The buyers there are collecting the ship technology to rebuild the Citadel, to the best of their ability. So far, one of the 5 "arms" of the citadel has been mostly copied and rebuilt, though its technology lacks some of the mysterious properties that the old Citadel held.

The problem with offering money for parts is, it becomes competitive. Other scavengers collecting parts are collectively referred to as Scavs. To them, that's exactly what we are as well. Scavs are no strangers to violence, and will kill eachother to get the best parts for the highest payout.

Scavs would be no threat to me. I could bring down a Scav ship in one swipe. But I can't. My fellow crew cannot know what power I behold, for surely they would catch on to who I am. There are too many who oppose who I truly am, too many who think I am the reason why the Reapers came.

I'm not a symbol of hope.

I'm not a savior.

I'm being hunted.

I am Commander Lilith Shepard. "


End file.
